The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

Publishers Information

About The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

Publisher Web Link: http://www.oup.com/

Offering a panoramic view of the history and culture of food and drink in America with fascinating entries on everything from the smell of asparagus to the history of White Castle, and the origin of Bloody Marys to jambalaya, the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink provides a concise, authoritative, and exuberant look at this modern American obsession. Ideal for the food scholar and food enthusiast alike, it is equally appetizing for anyone fascinated by Americana, capturing our culture and history through what we love most--food!

Building on the highly praised and deliciously browseable two-volume compendium the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, this new work serves up everything you could ever want to know about American consumables and their impact on popular culture and the culinary world. Within its pages for example, we learn that Lifesavers candy owes its success to the canny marketing idea of placing the original flavor, mint, next to cash registers at bars. Patrons who bought them to mask the smell of alcohol on their breath before heading home soon found they were just as tasty sober and the company began producing other flavors.

Edited by Andrew Smith, a writer and lecturer on culinary history, the Companion serves up more than just trivia however, including hundreds of entries on fast food, celebrity chefs, fish, sandwiches, regional and ethnic cuisine, food science, and historical food traditions. It also dispels a few commonly held myths. Veganism, isn’t simply the practice of a few "hippies," but is in fact wide-spread among elite athletic circles. Many of the top competitors in the Ironman and Ultramarathon events go even further, avoiding all animal products by following a strictly vegan diet. Anyone hungering to know what our nation has been cooking and eating for the last three centuries should own the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink .

· Nearly 1,000 articles on American food and drink, from the curious to the commonplace

· Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs and color images

· Includes informative lists of food websites, museums, organizations, and festivals

Author Information

About Andrew F. Smith

Author Web Link: http://andrewfsmith.com/

Andrew F. Smith is a writer and lecturer on food and culinary history. He serves as the general editor for the Edible Series, published by Reaktion Press. He also teaches Food Studies at the New School University in New York.

Specifically, he has:

• Edited or authored 19 books, including The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, the Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food, Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War and Potato: A Global History. For more information, click here.

• Written more than 1000 articles, entries and papers on culinary topics.

• Delivered over 2000 presentations at regional, national and international conferences.

• Taught a variety of university courses, including American Culinary History, Contemporary Food Controversies, From Marcus Apicius to Julia Child: Introduction to Culinary History, Advanced Culinary History, Professional Food Writing, Julia Child: Poet of the Appetites, How to Launch Your Food Writing Career, and How to Publish Your Cookbook.

• Been interviewed frequently been interviewed for newspapers and magazines including New York Times, New Yorker, Newsday, Fortune, Daily News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Atlanta Constitution, Vogue, and Reader’s Digest.

• Served as an historical consultant to several food television productions, including “Food Essence” television programs and series that have aired on PBS, the History Channel, the Food Network, Discovery, and Sundance Channel.

• Consulted with many not-for-profit organizations and university programs in the humanities and education fields. He has served on advisory committees or on the boards of directors of over thirty not-for-profit organizations. He currently is a member of the Editorial Board for the Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS) journal, Food, Culture and Society. He has served on the Executive Council of the American Society for Journalists and Authors and has served as past Chair for The Culinary Trust, the philanthropic partner of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP).

• Organized 78 local, national and international conferences, such as the Roger Smith Food Writers’ Conference, Julia Child: Culinary Revolutionary, M. F. K. Fisher: Poet of the Appetites, James Beard: The Quintessential American Epicure, Craig Claiborne and the Invention of Food Journalism, and Clementine Paddleford: America’s First Food Journalist.

Cookbooks by Andrew F. Smith

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America

by Andrew F. Smith